Snapping Turtle Gets Trapped In Asian Carp Barrier

A Common Snapping Turtle is pictured at Heathrow Airport's Animal Reception Centre on January 25, 2011 in London, England. (Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

DARIEN, Ill. (CBS) — A snapping turtle trapped in a barrier meant to stop Asian carp has prompted DuPage County officials to take a look at that barrier to make sure it’s not a consistent problem for wildlife.

WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports first of all, DuPage County officials say the turtle is fine.

The turtle got a claw caught in the fence on the banks of the Des Plaines River, which is designed to stop Asian carp from spilling into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal – and into Lake Michigan – when there’s a flood.

John Oldenburg, director of Natural Resources for the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, says the fence was “established at some ecological cost: a manmade barrier that changes natural movement.”

“That barrier is doing its job relative to protecting over a $5 billion economic resource and potential catastrophic damage to Lake Michigan, Oldenburg said. “This is the first instance we’ve heard where an animal has gotten stuck temporarily.”

Oldenburg says DuPage County will keep an eye on the barrier.

He says this is the first time he’s heard of an animal getting stuck in the barrier.

Steve Miller is an investigative reporter and has been with Newsradio for more than two decades. He grew up in South Texas and received his undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts at the University of Texas in Austin. After graduation, he moved to...